Panthers vs Saints Kickoff Time Pushed Back

A new kickoff time has been scheduled for this week's Panthers game.

The NFL announced that this week's game between the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints has been moved from a 1 p.m. EST kickoff to 4:25 p.m. EST. The game will still be televised on FOX. 

Both the Panthers and Saints are dealing with a significant amount of COVID-19 cases within the organization. 

"We've had a few positive tests this morning for COVID. So to spur or stop a spread or outbreak, we've sent everybody home," Panthers head coach Matt Rhule told reporters Monday afternoon. "We'll conduct some virtual meetings and then hopefully get back in the building on Wednesday. I'm not sure yet on the total number [of positives]. We have some guys that are rerunning but I would say it's somewhat significant. Enough that we're going to stem the tide. There are some positional areas [that are effected] but I'll probably keep that off the record until they've confirmed everything."

The NFL will continue to monitor the situation in both New Orleans and Charlotte and if the amount of positive tests continue to increase throughout the week, there is a possibility the league will push the game back as they did with Las Vegas vs Cleveland, Washington vs Philadelphia, and Seattle vs Los Angeles in Week 15.

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